Akm Shehabuddin Kisslu: The General Debate of United Nations General Assembly(UNGA) will start next week at the UN Headquarters in New York. The first day of high-level General Debate will take place Tuesday, 20 September 2022. The 77th session of the UN General Assembly opened on Tuesday with its new president Csaba Korosi urging world leaders to respond to humanity’s most pressing challenges, including the war in Ukraine, by working together and building bridges across what are “deep divides”. Ambassador Csaba Korosi was sworn in on Monday at the closing of the 76th session of the General Assembly. This is the first in-person format since the COVID-19 pandemic outbreak.
The UN Secretary-General Antonio Guterres, in his opening remarks, called for solidarity among member states to address common challenges.
“Addressing common challenges will require continued solidarity as we demonstrate the great promise and potential of this organization,” UN Secretary-General Antonio Guterres said.
“We face a world in peril across our work to advance peace, human rights and sustainable development, from conflicts and climate change to a broken global financial system that is failing developing countries, to poverty, inequality and hunger, to divisions and mistrust”
The world is looking to the United Nations for answers. As the world body’s chief deliberative body, the General Assembly bears a special responsibility, he said.
The UNGA President Csaba Korosi said, “Having begun my tenure as president, I aim to harness the great talents of this community of member states in forging the systemic solutions needed to transform our world. In accepting this privilege, I vowed to serve as an agent of multilateralism, multiculturalism, and multilingualism.” “I pledge that impartiality would be the hallmark of our operation. My team and I will do our best to push for ‘Solutions Through Solidarity, Sustainability and Science,’ the motto I’ve chosen for this presidency” president added.
He vowed to stand firm on the principles of the UN Charter, which brought member states together 77 years ago and hold them together today.
Apart from the General Debate, the high-level week will also see a high-level meeting to mark the 30th anniversary of the adoption of the Declaration on the Rights of Persons Belonging to National or Ethnic, Religious and Linguistic Minorities on Sept. 21, and a high-level meeting to commemorate and promote the International Day for the Total Elimination of Nuclear Weapons on Sept. 26.
The Heads of states and governments from 193 Member States will exchange statements in-person in the General Assembly on the theme “A watershed moment: transformative solutions to interlocking challenges” . High-level events will include the annual Sustainable Development Goals (SDG) Moment, the Transforming Education Summit, the commemoration of the thirtieth anniversary of the adoption of the Declaration on the Rights of Persons Belonging to National or Ethnic, Religious and Linguistic Minorities, a high-level plenary to commemorate and promote the International Day for the Total Elimination of Nuclear Weapons, and several Member State and partner side events.
